


Valentine's Day

by nightwalker



Category: Avengers (Comics), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Established Relationship, M/M, Public Sex, Secret Relationship, Tony Stark Has Issues, Tony Stark Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-13
Updated: 2014-02-14
Packaged: 2018-01-12 04:54:34
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,498
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1182165
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nightwalker/pseuds/nightwalker
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A small collection of stand-alone short stories about various Valentine's Days Steve and Tony have celebrated.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. His Secret

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Ylixia](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ylixia/gifts), [ricochet](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ricochet/gifts).

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony's made reservations, Steve's got reservations, and Natasha will never walk into a room without knocking again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for ylixia on Tumblr. The prompt was Marvel. Steve/Tony. Secret Relationship. This chapter is MCU
> 
> This was supposed to be four sentences. I have no idea what happened.

"Oh, god." Tony grabbed at Steve's back with both hands, dug his fingers into the muscles of Steve's shoulders and clutched him close. "I never thought that briefing would end."

Steve's hands gripped his hips bruisingly tight and yanked their groins together. Steve was hard, unbelievably so, even through the material of his SHIELD uniform. "If you hadn't kept arguing with Fury we'd have been finished an  _hour_  ago."

"If Fury hadn't kept being  _obtuse_ -" Tony said and that's when Steve let go of his hips and grabbed his ass, lifting Tony off his feet. "Shit," he said, breathless. "You gonna get rough with me, soldier? Did I make you mad? Get you all hot under the collar?"

Steve kissed him hard and quick. "If I wanted to be rough with you, you'd already be bent over the conference table," he said in a low voice. 

"Okay," Tony said. His voice came out of his chest tight, and maybe a note higher than usual. "Okay, yeah, do that."

Steve rolled his eyes at him, but his eyes flickered over Tony's shoulder to the table behind him. "Can you be quiet?" He sucked Tony's lower lip into his mouth, worked it between his teeth for a moment. "Not a sound out of you."

Tony shivered and Steve's hands tightened on him. "Anyone could walk in," he said. "At any minute." It was a warning - Steve was the one who kept their relationship on the down-low, Steve was the one who had something to lose by being caught in bed with someone like Tony - but Tony couldn't quite work the excitement out of his voice.

"You want to get caught, Tony?" Steve was grinning at him and  _Jesus_  Tony loved that about the guy. Sex made Steve smile at him, sex made Steve laugh and playful. Tony didn't know what Steve had been like with his other partners - if he'd had any, even, though if Tony was the first then Steve was some kind of fucking  _savant_  - but he took a quiet kind of pride in being able to make Steve smile like that. 

"I would blow you on the command deck of the Helicarrier," Tony said. He wriggled a little, forcing Steve to hold him even closer to avoid dropping him. It wasn't quite an answer, but it was close enough. Secrecy hadn't been his idea, and if he thought about it too much it would kill the mood a little.

Steve made a sound deep in his throat, tight and pained. He moved abruptly, crossing the room in three long strides and then the back of Tony's thighs were hitting the conference table. Steve set him down almost gently and then pulled away.

Tony gripped Steve's uniform even tighter, but Steve only pulled back a few inches so he could tackle Tony's belt and fly with quick fingers. "Shit," Tony said, and then Steve yanked Tony's pants down until they were bunched up around his calves. "Get them off," he growled as he reached for his own belt.

"Sir, yes, sir," Tony said. He toed his shoes off, kicking one halfway across the conference room in his haste, and kicked his pants off. He was reaching for his socks when Steve took him by the hips and dragged him to the edge of the table.

"Lie back," Steve said. 

It was a wonder he didn't give himself a concussion, the way he threw himself down on the conference table. His chest was heaving and Steve had barely touched him. "There could be cameras-"

"Not in here." Steve leaned in close, pressed his dick against Tony's ass. "I am  _very_  familiar with the security setup of the Helicarrier."

"You've been planning this?" Tony laughs up at the ceiling. "Okay, that is possibly the biggest turn on I have ever heard. Captain America has been planning slightly kinky public sex with me. Remind me to bring handcuffs next time just to flesh out the fantasy."

"We don't need handcuffs. If I hold you down, you won't be getting away."

Tony propped himself up on his elbows. "Are you trying to make me pop my cork like a horny teenager?"

"Heh. Maybe." Steve worked one hand between their bodies and pressed two fingers against Tony's hole. "Christ, Tony, you're already-"

"Ready for you," Tony said. "I was thinking sex in the limo on our way to dinner but  _wow_ , your idea is much better."

"Tony," Steve said in that tone of fond exasperation that Tony was learning to love. "We can't have sex in the limo."

"Yeah, I know, Happy might find us out." Tony lay back against the table and let his suddenly tight smile grace the ceiling tiles instead of Steve's beautiful, innocent face. "It's still a nice thought."

Steve's fingers paused for a moment, then pushed inside of him. "I was going to say the seats are too small for what I really want to do to you," Steve said. He worked his fingers in and out of Tony's body, hooking them to rub briefly against Tony's inner walls before pulling out. "But Happy might not appreciate the show." 

Happy had seen worse, but there wasn't a lot to be gained by pointing that out at the moment. "If you don't fuck me soon, some poor intern is eventually going to wander in here and probably die of embarrassment. Or worse. Coulson will walk in here and I'll have to go get the suit just to get his lips unattached from your ass - or other, equally commendable pieces of your anato-" Steve thrust home in one rough, sudden glide and Tony's words caught in his throat. It burned, a little, but that was nothing to the heat of Steve's cock inside of him. Tony sucked in air and said something obscene. "Oh, God."

"You told me to hurry up," Steve said, unrepentant. He leaned forward, pressing Tony's thighs back toward his chest, folding him almost in half. He was huge and hot and heavy and Tony could feel every aching throb of him in time with Tony's own heartbeat. "You should hold on," he said, "because I'm not stopping if Fury himself walks through that door."

Tony's fingers scrabbled at the table, curling around the edge just as Steve began to move. It was fast and hard and if it wasn't anything like rough, it wasn't quite as careful - as _gentle_  - as Steve usually tended to  be. Tony bit back a groan as Steve slammed into him again and again, his skin already starting to get slick with sweat, his body jerking against the table with every thrust.

Steve curled one big hand around Tony's dick and he couldn't swallow the gasp he made.

"Quiet," Steve said in a low voice. "Remember. Not a sound from you." He gripped Tony tightly and slid his hand up the length of him, then down again, jerking him off in time with the thrust of his hips. "Not a whimper. Not a groan." He licked his lips and gave Tony a little squeeze. "Don't want Coulson getting ideas do you?"

If Coulson walked in right then Tony would probably just beg Steve not to stop. He arched his back into Steve's next thrust, driving him deeper, and had to bite his lip against the wave of pleasure that shot through his blood.

"Come on," Steve said. He was close, Tony knew the signs. "Come on. Quick this time. But when I get you home I'm going to spread you out on our bed and take you all fucking night-"

Tony let go of the table and shoved one fist against his mouth, biting down hard on the flesh at the base of his thumb as climax tore through him. His cock jerked in Steve's grip and pulsed thick lines of come over Tony's stomach and chest. He sobbed against his fist, swallowing any louder sounds he wanted to make as he shook with release. Dimly he was aware of the way Steve's breathing was growing ragged and harsh, of his thrusts growing erratic and rough as he sought his own release. He dragged air into burning lungs and reached up to curl his hand around the back of Steve's neck. He tugged and Steve came willingly, leaning down to meet Tony's kiss hungrily, teeth and lips and tongue, and it was messy and imperfect and fantastic. Steve's hips jerked against him, the angle wrong for a real thrust so they were mostly grinding now, the near-constant pressure making sparks go off behind Tony's eyes and making his spent cock twitch against his belly. 

"Steve," he said against his lover's mouth, and that's when he came.

They lay there for a long moment afterwards, Steve's forehead pressed to Tony's throat and Tony's fingers curled in Steve's hair while their breathing slowed and evened out. Tony waited as long as he could before he shifted a little beneath Steve's bulk. "Losing the feeling in my legs, big guy," he said apologetically. Steve liked to cuddle, he liked to stay pressed up against Tony's chest or back when they fucked, to fall asleep in the same position they'd made love in, but this wasn't the place for that. The risk of being caught was increasing by the moment, and the edge of the table was cutting off all the circulation to Tony's legs.

Steve sighed and pressed a suckling kiss against the side of Tony's throat. "Sorry." He kissed Tony's chest, paused to mouth gently at one of his nipples. 

Tony smiled down at him. "We still have time to make our dinner reservations, if we head out soon."

The promise of a good meal seemed to do what the risk of imminent discovery hadn't so far, and motivated Steve to move. "Right," he said, pulling away. He took Tony by the hands and pulled him upright to sit at the edge of the table. "Come on, let's get you dress-"

The sound of the door sliding open froze Tony's blood in his veins.

He dragged in a strangled breath, mind already working overtime to explain this away, to find some way of getting Steve off the hook with whoever it was - Steve was still mostly dressed, he'd just shoved his pants down far enough to get the job down, maybe Tony could shield Steve from view, make it look like he'd done something stupid and impulsive.  _Hello, I'm Tony Stark, I stripped naked in a wildly misguided attempt to seduce Steve Rogers and there isn't a person on this ship who wouldn't believe that story._

It took less than a second to decide. He braced himself to turn, to address whoever it was, already picturing the headlines that would eventually crop up, but when he went to move, Steve's arms wrapped around his shoulder and held him in place. 

He tipped his head back and found Steve looking down at him, his brow furrowed, his eyes narrowed with something like concern before they smoothed and the bright blue settled into a fierce determination Tony had seen before: on the battlefield. "Steve," he said, but the arms around him tightened.

"I apologize, Agent Romanoff," Steve said and  _of course_  it had to be Natasha. Well, at least she'd buy Tony flinging himself at someone. He'd done it to her, after all. If Steve would just let go and let him make their explanations. "I think we've put you in an awkward position."

"Not really," Natasha said. She sounded wry, almost amused, and Tony really wanted to see the look on her face. "I suppose I should apologize. Clint left his phone. Oherwise you would have had privacy."

Tony blinked against Steve's chest. That was not the response he'd expected.

"If I could impose upon you for a few moments to get dressed," Steve said. 

"By all means. I'll wait in the hall. If you wouldn't mind grabbing the phone on your way out?"

Steve agreed and the door slid shut again. Tony heard Steve heave a sigh, his breath ruffling Tony's hair.

"Sorry," Tony said, his chest tight. "I know that's exactly what you didn't want to happen."

"Don't apologize to me," Steve said quietly. "I started it, I knew what I was doing." He rubbed his hands briskly over Tony's back before he stepped away and pulled up his pants. "Come on, let's get dressed before Clint comes back to find out what's taking her so long."

"I'm sorry," Tony said again, because he was such an eloquent guy tonight. "I know you didn't want anyone finding out that you were-" 'Gay' isn't the right word here, not even 'having sex with a man'. 'Banging Tony Stark' is probably the best way to put it, but somehow Tony can't make himself say the words. It sucks enough knowing Steve wants this to be their dirty little secret. Tony knows he won't be able to say it out loud without giving away just how much he hates that knowledge.

Steve straightened his uniform jacket and studied Tony's face intently. "Come on," he said finally. "I'll get your shoes."

Tony dressed in record time and in total silence. Steve combed his fingers through Tony's hair, carefully fixing the damage their encounter had done. He gripped Tony's shoulder when he was done, then they head for the door, Tony pausing just long enough to grab Clint's shitty SHIELD-issue cell phone off the far end of the table.

Natasha was waiting for them in the hallway, arms crossed over her chest as she leaned against the wall. Her expression was placid, but her eyes were cool. To Tony's surprise, they mostly appeared to be aimed at Steve.

"Is there something you wanted to tell the team?" Natasha asked, one eyebrow, quirked upward. 

Tony held out the phone like a peace offering. "Look, Tasha, this isn't-"

"We were going to tell you guys," Steve said and Tony ground to a stuttering halt because since when is Steve a liar? "This is just - it's still pretty new," he said, and one hand came up to rest on the small of Tony's back. "I was being selfish, I guess. And maybe a little superstitious. I just wanted  us to have some privacy while we got used to each other."

Natasha regarded Steve with that same cool stare for a moment before her eyes flickered over Tony's face. He had no idea what she saw there, honestly had no idea what his expression could be at that moment. He was trying for a poker face, but he suspected he looked like someone on the receiving end of a stun gun. "All right," she said placidly. She reached out and took the phone from Tony's hand, her mouth quirking up slightly at one corner. "Not bad, Stark. You could do worse."

There was no safe response to that, Tony could feel it. 

"It's not a secret," Steve said - and seriously, what the  _hell_  - "But we'd like to tell the team ourselves. I'm not asking you to lie to anyone-"

"I doubt it'll come up," Natasha said. "Are you coming back to the Tower with us?"

"We were going to go to dinner," Steve said. 

"Limo's waiting downstairs," Tony offered.

She nodded. "Valentine's Day, right. I'd forgotten. You two have fun celebrating." Her eyes flickered to the door behind them, then back to Tony's face. "Although it looks like you got an early start."

Tony offered her a half-smile in return and she clapped him on the shoulder. He had the sneaking suspicion that she knew exactly what was going through his head at the moment. "Can you blame me?" He asked lightly. "Have you  _seen_  him?"

"Saw more of you," she said, and that was definitely a grin. She raised the phone in a casual salute as she started down the hall. "See you guys tomorrow."

Steve's hand was pressed against the small of his back still. Tony leaned back against it, unconsciously letting Steve hold some of his weight. "What just happened?"

"You thought I was ashamed of sleeping with you." Steve's voice was low and tired and a little angry.

Tony turned to face him, something like fear churning in his gut because he honestly didn't know why Steve was sounding like that. Piercing blue eyes stared down at him, and Tony had seen self-recrimination on Steve before. He just isn't a hundred percent sure why he was seeing it now. "Look, I knew you didn't want people knowing about us. I didn't take it personally, I just-"

"Liar," Steve said. He took a step closer and wrapped both arms around Tony. "I meant what I told Natasha. I just wanted this to be private for a little while before we had to listen to Clint makes jokes and Fury preach about fraternization regs. That's all. I never meant to make you feel like I was hiding  _you_."

"Oh, well, in that case," Tony said, because something hot and tight in his chest felt like it was going to burst and also he was a little worried his voice might break if he said anything else. "Okay."

Steve pressed a kiss against his temple. "Okay?"

Tony nodded. Steve was holding him in the middle of the Helicarrier for anyone to see. There wasn't a lot to doubt at this point. "Okay."

"Good." Steve dropped a quick kiss on Tony's mouth. "Do you still want to get dinner? If we haven't missed our reservations."

There wasn't a restaurant in the city that wouldn't find a table for Tony Stark if he showed up, not even on the biggest date night of the year. "No, we should be good. And I could eat after all that exercise from earlier."

Steve chuckled. He pulled away and started walking, but he left one hand resting on the small of Tony's back, urging him along. "And you made an excellent suggestion earlier. About the limo." He grinned a little, ducking his head slightly. "I mean - would that be weird? With Happy in the front seat? I don't want to make him uncomfortable."

"We'll put the privacy barrier up. And I'll be very quiet." Tony leaned against Steve's side to let a SHIELD agent pass. The woman didn't even blink to see Captain America walking with an arm around Tony. "I thought there wasn't enough room for what you wanted to do?"

"There isn't," Steve said. He slid his arm around Tony's waist and kept him close when Tony would have moved away. They were approaching the flight deck to catch a shuttle down to street level, dozens of people would see them in a moment, but Steve didn't let go. "But I'm sure we'll think of something to tide us over until we get home."


	2. Bed of Roses

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve isn't good at romance, but he's willing to embarrass himself to make Tony happy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Based on a prompt from post-and-out. The prompt was for Steve/Tony: bed of roses. This chapter is MA or 616.
> 
> This got REALLY sappy towards the end.

Tony was the romantic one.

Steve was good enough at the relationship thing. He remembered birthdays and anniversaries, he knew how Tony liked his coffee, he said ‘I love you’ as often as he thought Tony would let him get away with. But the big gestures, the grand moments, that wasn’t his strong suit. He was, frankly, terrible at it. That sort of thing never occurred to him until he saw someone else do it. 

Tony, though. Tony did think of things like that. But more importantly, Tony enjoyed things like that.

Steve had never cared much about romance. A candlelit dinner was about as far as he ever went, and he could count those on the fingers of one hand. It wasn’t something any of his past lovers had seemed to expect from him, and he personally had never really needed that. Not until he met Tony, and found himself the recipient of all the romantic gestures in the book and quite a few that Tony must have created himself. And somewhere along the line Steve found himself wanting the romance, reveling in the moments when Tony paused his crazy life to do something sweet and thoughtful and, well, romantic.

Which meant there was a problem.

"It’s not fair," Steve said one afternoon. "He does all this thoughtful, romantic stuff and I love it, but I never give any of it back. I don’t like being that guy who just takes in a relationship."

"You’re not that guy, Steve," Bucky said. His voice was muffled because he’d shoved his head under a couch cushion almost five minutes ago in an increasingly futile effort to pretend he didn’t know his best friend was having sex with Tony Stark. "You’re a nice guy and you’re good to whoever you’re with. You don’t take advantage of people."

"Anyone can get complacent," Steve disagreed. He stretched out his legs and slumped down against the cushions. "I just want to make him feel as wanted and cherished as he makes me feel."

There was a resounding silence from beneath the couch cushion, then Bucky heaved a dramatic sigh and sat up. “Look. First of all, you gotta stop talking about Stark that way, you’re gonna make me like the asshole. Second, I have absolutely no doubt that he feels that way. Anyone with freaking eyeballs can see that. You look at him like he’s a fucking miracle and he sees it just like the rest of us. Trust me. There is no way in hell Stark feels neglected just cause you don’t greet him at the door wearing saran wrap and a smile.”

"Saran wrap?" Steve said and Bucky made a face at him. "I still want to do something," he said. He crossed his arms over his chest and lifted his chin mutinously. "Just because we love someone doesn’t mean we can’t take them for granted. Valentine’s Day is next week and I want to show him I appreciate him."

"So give him a BJ in the limo," Bucky said, then promptly groaned. "Oh God.”

"Too late," Steve said. "You have acknowledged my sex life. No going back from here."

"I hate you. I hate Stark. I hate Valentine’s Day. Look, just-" Bucky waved his hand in the air like he was swatting a fly. "You must have some idea of what the guy likes. What does he want that he never asks for? What gets his engine going? What revs him up no matter how tired he is, or how much you’ve been fighting? And for the love of little fishes, do not tell me. I’m going back to my apartment and I will not be back until February 15th. I will not answer my phone, or my communicator. I’m not even turning on the television. This conversation never happened and I will swear on my own grave that it never happened.”

"You swear on your own grave so often it doesn’t really mean anything anymore," Steve said good-naturedly.

Bucky levered himself up off the couch. “Goodbye, Steven.”

"Anyway, we’ve done the BJ in the limo often enough that it wouldn’t really be special-“

“Oh GOD.”

****

After Bucky fled the room, nearly knocking over Hawkeye, and literally flinging himself into the elevator before the doors could close, Steve thought over his friend’s advice.

What did Tony like? Almost everything. He was flexible and appreciative in bed. He showered Steve with dozens of different romantic gestures, showing no special preference for any one thing. He seemed to value the time they spent watching movies together, or preparing a meal, or taking a walk in the park just as much as the time they spent making love. In fact, in the year they’d been together, the only thing Tony had ever seemed to be wanting from Steve was, well, Steve.

What does he want that he never asks for?

Attention. No, more than that. Affection. Tony had a deep-rooted need to know he was loved, that he was wanted, even - perhaps especially - in a non-sexual way. 

Steve licked his lips. All right. That was a place to start. He could work with that.

****

Valentine’s Day fell on a Friday, which meant Tony had to work. He’d left before eight that morning, with several lingering kisses. They didn’t have plans for the evening, because Steve had pretended to have patrol that night. Steve was reasonably sure Tony would forgive him the deception. It was everything else he was suddenly nervous about.

He’d lowered the lights in their bedroom, and lit a few dozen candles. He’d set a small table by the french doors that led out to the balcony, complete with china and a meal he’d cooked himself (with assistance from Jarvis and Aunt May and unwanted commentary from Peter and Clint). A bottle of sparkling cider sat in the center of the table, and a small gift box sat on Tony’s plate next to a small note card with Tony’s name carefully printed on the front. 

The note card was one of twelve. Steve had made a trail of the others, starting with one just inside the front door of their suite, then another every few feet leading back to the bedroom. They were the first thing Tony would see when he arrived home. Which would be literally any minute now because Pepper had called him with a head’s up twenty minutes ago.

He rubbed his hands together briskly and took a deep breath. The entire room smelled like roses and the slowly warming oil on the table by the bed. He could do this. He could be romantic. If he could make Tony feel even a fraction as valued as Tony made him feel with every little gesture then this would be a success.

The front door opened, and he heard Tony call his name. Then silence, except for slow footsteps, and the sound of the cards being opened.

Twelve reasons I love you. 

It was a cliche, Steve knew that. It was a whole roomful of cliches, but Steve was hoping they were cliches for a reason. He was hoping Tony wouldn’t mind. He was really hoping Tony didn’t take one look at the silk sheets covered with rose petals and burst out laughing.

But when the bedroom door opened and Tony walked into the room, the little stack of note cards clutching in one shaking hand, he took one look at the room and reached for Steve.

****

The note cards are placed with reverent care in Tony’s jewelry box, along with his parents’ wedding rings.

Dinner lasts for hours. They linger at the table, words flowing easily between them as they share the cider. 

And when Steve takes Tony to bed, lays him down on silk sheets with candlelight flickering over his skin and reflecting in his eyes, he knows Bucky was right. Because every touch, every glance, every word makes Tony glow.

Steve makes love to Tony with the taste of apples in his mouth and the scent of roses in the air and it’s every cliche in the book but it’s everything he hadn’t realized he needed to give.


End file.
